THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 28, 1994 TAG: 9408250185
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 46 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Tight Lines
SOURCE: Ford Reid
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
For most of the summer, I eschew bottom fishing.
Perhaps I am too impatient, too anxious, to stand holding a rod and waiting for something to happen. I prefer throwing lures to bluefish, Spanish mackerel and sea trout. Even if I don't catch anything, I at least feel as if I am doing something.
Besides, most of what is caught soaking bloodworms hardly seems worth the effort.
Sure, I appreciate a mess of pan-fried sea mullet as much as the next gourmet, but I seem more likely to drag in spot so small that the average 9-year-old would be embarrassed to pull them out of a farm pond.
Along about this time of the year, all of that changes. The season is approaching for big, yellow-bellied spot.
Big is, of course, a relative term, but compared to the 4- and 5-ounce spot of weeks gone by, the 12- and 14-ounce spot of late summer are enormous.
They are also delicious, if you don't mind picking through a zillion tiny bones to get to their sweet flesh.
The simplicity of bottom fishing is one of its great joys. Any rod capable of throwing a couple of ounces will do, as will almost any reel.
You don't have to worry much about the smoothness of the drag or how much line the spool will hold, although you should be aware that at any time a puppy drum or a good size bluefish might pick up your bait and run with it.
A standard, two-hook bottom rig will catch all of the spot that you can find. There is no reason to get any more complicated than that.
Bloodworms are the traditional bait of choice although bits of shrimp and small mole crabs can be very effective, too. Some people probably catch lots of spot on squid or cut bait but I've never had much luck with those.
Whatever you use, keep your bait small. Remember that these are still little fish with little mouths. Use too much bait and they will nibble it away without ever taking the hook. On a good day, one bloodworm, cut into appropriate size pieces, ought to catch half a dozen spot.
The hardest part of catching spot is to find them. Sometimes it seems that you can catch them any place you toss a line from the northern edge of Currituck County to Ocracoke Inlet.
Then there are days when you search and search to no avail.
Usually, spot are feeding in big schools. If you catch one, you will catch many. In fact, you will, more often than not, pull them in two at a time.
At this point, you might want to become somewhat selective, keeping the larger ones and releasing the smaller ones alive.
This is for the sake of conservation, of course, but also for the sake of your own sanity. If you are not careful, you can easily find yourself with a cooler full of more small fish than you will ever want to clean.
Spot, especially when they are schooled up in thick batches, are an excellent introduction to salt water fishing for young anglers.
The action can be frantic enough to capture and hold the attention of even the most fidgety 5-year-old. by CNB